Smoke billowing from 500,000 firecrackers enveloped Manhattan's Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Sunday, symbolically chasing away evil spirits and spreading happiness to welcome the Year of the Snake to the US.

The spectacle kicked off the 14th annual Chinese New Year firecracker ceremony and cultural festival, a celebration that draws an estimated 20,000 people, including many native New Yorkers. Besides the pyrotechnics, the New York-based organizer, Better Chinatown Society, supplemented the fun with lion dances, renditions of popular Chinese songs, souvenir stands and food booths. The festival will close with the Chinese New Year parade this Sunday.

With his daughter perched on his shoulders, one spectator enthusiastically spoke of coming to Chinatown in the wake of the powerful snowstorm which slammed the New York area on Friday. "I've been meaning to bring my daughter to experience the Chinese Lunar New Year for some time," he said, "so since it fell on a Sunday it was a good opportunity to come into the city and check it out."

Although the storm blanketed the northeast and made weekend travel around the New York area more difficult than usual, New York City Comptroller John Liu called the Chinese New Year celebration indispensable. "Even though the street's still covered by snow, thousands of people are out here today, getting ready to welcome the Year of the Snake, a year that I think means lots of wisdom, experience and resolve.

"The Chinese community is getting bigger and stronger here in New York City. Every year I get more invitations about different organizations, companies and groups having celebrations of Chinese New Year. It's a symbol of how fast the Chinese community is growing in New York City."

The annual Lunar New Year festivities have occupied an increasingly central position on the city's crowded slate of events. To celebrate the Chinese New Year, the NASDAQ stock market held a bell-ringing ceremony last Thursday and the Empire State Building was lit red and gold for three days.

Big department stores embraced Chinese New Year, as well. Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf Goodman, two upscale New York stores, adorned their window displays with Lunar New Year-themed decorations. For the first time in its history, Bloomingdale's operated a Chinese-themed shop within its store, celebrating Chinese culture.

Macy's flagship Herald Square store hosted a cocktail reception that featured lion dances and other performances to ring in the Lunar New Year.

"Macy's Chinese New Year celebration is great," said Sun Guoxiang, China's consul general in New York. "It is good to see Chinese and foreign friends gathered together to share traditional Chinese culture - Spring Festival."

On the west coast, the Hong Kong Association of Washington Foundation on Saturday hosted a Chinese Lunar New Year Black Tie Gala at the Sheraton hotel in Seattle. About 1,000 guests were on hand for the event, organized to support the Bruce Lee Action Museum - an institution that venerates the Chinese-American martial arts and pop culture icon.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee painted the Lunar New Year as an international holiday that brings Americans together. "Gathering like this bring us together in a spirit of fellowship and celebration, while promoting cultural awareness and understanding," Inslee said. "Washington's vibrant ethnic communities enrich our collective experience and greatly contribute to our state's overall health and vitality."

More people across the US are now aware of Chinese New Year. Zhang Ke, a Chinese-American, said that a few years ago only a few of his American friends mentioned Chinese New Year, but now "everybody knows it and has great interest to learn more about this holiday".

In a New Year's message to those who celebrate the Lunar New Year, US President Barack Obama on Friday noted that in Chinese tradition, the snake represents wisdom, and a thoughtful approach to "tackling the challenges before us". He wished everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year, "peace, prosperity and good health and fortune".

The celebrations come as US Census Bureau data show that Asians are the fastest-growing racial group in the US. From 2000 to 2010, the Asian population in America increased 45.6 percent, four times faster than the overall US population.

The growing Asian population in the US has led to an increased yearning for recognition of Asian culture in American society. Some Asian-Americans are pushing for national acknowledgement of the Lunar New Year. The We The People section of the White House's website has a petition proposing Lunar New Year's festival as a federal holiday. The White House only responds if a petition collects 25,000 signatures. As of Tuesday, the petition had 37,821 digital signatures.

Tony Au, vice-president of the Better Chinatown Society, promotes a pan-Asian ethos, and even ventured to invite all Americans to join in: "It's not only for Chinese people, but also for all the Asian-Americans in the United States, plus all the other ethnic groups as well - come together to celebrate the Lunar New Year."

Wenfang Tang, a professor of political science and international studies at the University of Iowa, said he agrees that the Lunar New Year deserves to become a public US holiday, given the nation's large Asian-American population. He doubted, however, that the idea would make it past Congress. Tang, who is the Stanley Hua Hsia Chair of Chinese Culture and Institutions at the university, said "it will happen when Asian- Americans become important in determining the electoral outcomes in local and national elections."

Contact the writers at dbosko@chinadailyusa.com and yuwei12@chinadailyusa.com